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Date : between 1506 and 1507
Sizes : 23 cm x 29 cm
Material : Oil painting on wood
Acquisition : Purchase (2004)
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Italian Painting
Painting
Area related
Florence (Italy)
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| Description |  |
The youthful Virgin delights in playing with her baby. Christ's attention has been caught by the carnations (or pinks) she offers him. In Renaissance devotional paintings, pinks symbolize divine love.
This painting is freely based on a famous composition by Leonardo da Vinci (the "Benois Madonna" in the Hermitage, St Petersburg. Raphael painted the panel shortly before leaving Florence for Rome.
Raphael here combines a precise technique inspired by Netherlandish painting with Leonardo's innovative vision of the tender relationship between mother and child. Raphael's skill in depicting light and shade is evident in the complex folds of the Virgin's sleeve, the drapery around her hip, and in the subtle transitions of the flesh. The delicate modeling of the Virgin's translucent veil as it passes over her exquisitely drawn ear and braided hair is a mark of the picture's excellent condition.
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